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A pile of discarded luggage found in a Manukau service station skip bin has helped Police crack a car break-in that almost derailed a German tourist’s flight home.
Officers searching the bin discovered the tourist’s stolen backpack along with several other suitcases and travel bags. The recovery came after a rapid investigation triggered by a report made at the Auckland Central Police Base on November 19.
The tourist told staff his rental car had been broken into overnight on Crummer Road in Grey Lynn, with thieves taking his backpack containing valuable electronics, a laptop, digital camera, drone, passport, German IDs and bank cards.
A breakthrough came when front counter staff realised the man had an AirTag attached to his property.
“A location ping led police to an address in Wiri,” Auckland Central Area Commander Inspector Grae Anderson says.
With that information, the City Area Prevention Team secured a search warrant, which was executed by the Auckland Central Tactical Crime Unit with assistance from Beat Section staff. Inside the address, police recovered almost all of the stolen property.
“During the search officers also located a large amount of unrelated cash and ammunition,” Inspector Anderson says.
Further enquiries sent officers to a skip bin at a nearby Manukau service station, where they found the tourist’s backpack dumped among several other stolen bags.
“In the same bin we located other suitcases and travel bags, which did not belong to the German tourist,” Inspector Anderson says.
“We are currently working to identify additional victims and return the belongings to their rightful owners.”
Police returned the tourist’s items to him at Auckland Airport as he waited to board his flight, turning what could have been a travel disaster into a last-minute success.
“We are pleased to be able to get his belongings back before he left the country,” Inspector Anderson says.
“He might have had a bad experience but being able to put that right is pleasing for our staff.”
A 41-year-old man appeared in the Auckland District Court on 20 November charged with theft ex-car and unlawful possession of ammunition.
He was remanded in custody to reappear on 11 December.
